MONROVIA, Liberia — The deadly scourge of Ebola means people here no longer shake hands when greeting others. In taxis

where people used to cram onto the laps of others, drivers now can carry only four people or risk fines.

Plastic buckets are selling at a record pace to people who fill them with chlorine to disinfect their hands. And today Liberian health authorities ordered that all Ebola victims must be cremated as the virus blamed for killing at least 729 people across West Africa shows no sign of slowing down. At least 17 bodies have been abandoned on Monrovia's streets.

“This situation has gotten worse. We need our concerted effort, this country needs everybody right now,” Information Minister Lewis Brown said today.

West Africa is experiencing the worst recorded Ebola outbreak in history, and the virus now has infiltrated three African capital cities. Never before has the disease with a fatality rate of at least 60 percent become so entrenched in urban population centers.

The situation is particularly dire in Liberia, where at least 156 people have succumbed to the disease, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, sweat, vomit or feces. Contact with the bodies of victims is particularly dangerous as evidenced by the fact that many victims contracted the disease when touching bodies at funerals.